Condensation products of aldehydes and urea derivatives



forin Patented M81331, 1942 UNI D ,STATES PATEN F'Fl-ca CONDENSATION rnonuc'rs ormrmrs AND vans DERIVATIVES John Frank Olin,

Grosse lie, Michsassimor to Sharples Chemicals Inc., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing.

Application September '1, 1940, Serial No. 355,811

2 Claims. (01. coo-c9) The present invention pertains to chemical products formed by condensing alkyl urea derivatives with methylene-containing bodies, such as This application is a continuaaldehyde. I tion in part of my prior applications, Serial #164,525, filed September 18, 1937, and Serial #316,315, filed January 30, 1940,both for Manufacture of resins.

It is a well-known fact that urea may be reacted with formaldehyde to 'produce resinous condensation products. This reaction may be greatly accelerated by the use of small amounts of acids ascatalysts, and it may also be accelera ed with the aid of alkaline catalysts. The condensation reaction ordinarily occurs in two steps. In the first step, the urea reacts with formaldehyde to produce an initial reaction minture.

which is liquid, and which contains dimethylol urea. When the dimethylol urea-containing reaction product is heated further toremove water and excess formaldehyde, polymerization takes place to form a hard, solid, resin.

The present invention pertains to a condensation reaction and products thereof by which urea derivatives are condensed with formaldehyde to produce substances which are not hard, or solid, resins, but which are nonetheless useful in yarlous technical applications, for example as adhe-' sives or as plasticizers.

The invention rests upon the discovery that,

when a primary or secondary alkyl urea containing four or more substituent alkyl carbon atoms is condensed with formaldehyde or its equivalent, and the resulting condensation product is then subjected to further condensation by the application of heat, a viscous liquid or semi-solid product is-obtained which can be used for one of the purposes discussed above. If the liquid obtained by [condensing the particular primary or sec-.

ondary alkyl urea with formaldehyde is too fluid to render it suitable for use as an adhesive or plasticizer. the viscosi y of the product may be increased by incorporating unsubstituted urea, or

a lower alkyl substituted urea in the initial condensation mixture, or in the condensation mixture at an intermediate stage of the condensation reaction. Care should be taken, however, to avoid the presence in the reactionmixture of a proportion of urea sufliciently large to produce a hard, or solid reaction product-under the reaction condi ions employed. I

The following examples will assist those skilled in the art in the practice of the invention:

Example 1 parts of unsymmetrical dibutyl urea were mixed with 20 parts of urea, parts of aqueous formaldehyde and 3 parts of 93% ace ic acid. These materials were dissolved in methyl alcohol, stirred and heated until the temperature reached 150 C. The resulting'product was a clear, viscous, semi-solid and possessed excellent adhesive properties for glass, paper and Cellophane. This product was soluble in aromatic'hydrocarbons. and alcohols. It was compatible with cellulose nitrate, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butyrmethacrylate and alkyl phenol resins.

l l'xamrle 2' 280 parts of butyl ,urea were mixed with parts of urea, 810 parts of aqueousformaldehyde and 30 parts of 93% acetic acid. These ingredi-' ents were dissolved in butyl alcohol and. heated 4 until the product was found to be soluble in: aromatic hydrocarbons 0.). .The resulting.

condensation product was a water-white, tacky.

mass. It was soluble both in aromatic hydro-- carbons and in-alco'hols. It adhered readily. to smooth surfaces such as glass or Cellophane.

This type of resin may be applied as an adhesive either in the original state or in the form of a solution in an organic solvent.

Example 4 -22 parts of secondaryamyl urea, 3 parts of '1 urea and 1 part of 93% acetic acid were dissolved in 50 parts of methyl alcohol and heated until. the temperature'reached 89 C. The mixture was ,then cooled and 16 parts of 'aqueousformalde hyde,.we1'e added. Stirring and heating were then resumed until the'temperaturereached C. The resulting condensation product was a viscous semi-solid'material that softened readily upon the applic'ation of mild heat. It was soluble in alcohols and aromatic hydrocarbons and possessed excellent adhesiveproperties.

e r Example 5 25 parts of tertiary amyl urea, 25 parts of aqueous formaldehyde and 1 part of acetic acid,

, were dissolved in 50 parts of methyl alcohol.

' Unmodified urea, in the amount of 6% by weight,

based on the tertiary amyl urea used, was added to the mixture.- The mixture was-stirred and heated until the temperature reached 150 C. The product was characterized by being waterwhitea-nd soluble in alcohols and aromatic hy- 7 drocarbons and remained viscous and tacky at room temperatures, although possessing hardate, vinylite, ethyl cellulose, tornesit, methy Y ness due to the presence of the unmodified urea in the reaction mixture. Itformed a tough, flexible bond when warmed and applied as an adhesive,

Example 6 Initial condensation products were prepared from dodecyl urea and formaldehyde, using the technique and relative proportions of Example 5, and, after adding a smallamount of urea, further condensation was permitted to occur. The resulting product was viscous and tacky at room temperatures and possessed qualities of hardness due to the presence of urea in the condensatio reaction mixture.

Example 7 57 parts oi aqueous formaldehyde solution (37%) and 3 parts of acetic acid (93%) were heated together until the temperature reached 99 C., and 17 parts of dodecyl urea were thereafter added to the mixture slowly, with continued stirring oi the mixture. The mixturepwas heated gently during the addition of the dodecyl urea tion products are useful as ingredients adhesives formed by-compo'unding them with other products. Thus, the condensation products of the-present invention are compatible with nitrocellulose. castor oil, ethylcellulose, a number 0! alkyd resins, and various other substances useful in adhesives and plastics. as indicated in Example 1. In view of this compatibility, the conden- .sation products of the present invention may be used as ingredients of adhesives containing these other substances, or as plasticizers for compositions incorporating such substances.

While the above discussion .has not been applied specifically to 'thio-urea, I should like to point out that thio-urea derivatives containing primary and secondary alkyl substituents function very similarly to the corresponding derivatives oi. simple urea, in the practice of the present in order to maintain it at 110 C., but very little heat was required, in view 01' the exothermic nature of the reaction. After the addition of the dodecyl urea was completed, 2 parts of anhydrous urea were then added and heating was continued until the temperature reached 125 C.

The product was characterized by stability, light color, thermoplasticity and solubility in' a wide variety of organic solvents such as aromatic hydrocarbons and alcohols. Films formed from the product and baked at 250 F. for one hour were very thermoplastic and slightly tacky. The product possessed qualities of hardness due-to the presence of urea in the condensation reaction mixture.

In addition to the value of the compounds or the present invention because of their properties when used alone as adhesives, these condensainvention. 1

Still further modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art, and I do not therefore wish to be limited except by the scope of the m1- lowing claims.

I claim:

1 A process for producing condensation products that comprises condensing with formalde- 2. A viscous liquid condensation product iormed'by the process described in claim 1.

' 91m FRANK OLIN. 

